Cat and Mouse: When the Mouse corners the Cat
by Secretly Immortal
Summary: As a child she used to dream of a woman. She was beautiful, and somewhere along the way, she'd convinced herself this woman was her MOTHER! It was laughable, really. Because the woman denied her this. She always had the nagging, bitter thought that even in her dreams, she was an orphan. But now she's begun to dream again... and things are NOT the way she remembered them...


**In this new, revamped version, I want to delve into Naru's childhood. This is, of course, only a prologue, so I can get settled in and comfortable. And yes, I'm keeping Katsumi the way she was, because... I fucking love her, damn it! But, I will be showing how much more manipulative she is this time around, than I did last time. I only hinted, and that's terrible, because she was actually very manipulative. This will have more crack, yes, but it will also be slightly dark. Yaaay! *claps excitedly while jumping up and down* And I so totally don't own Naruto!**

**Forgive mistakes, pleeeease!**

* * *

"Kaa-san!" Naru greeted, grinning and laughing giddily as she ran up to the tall woman. Where Naru was small - even for her age (and she had turned five just today!) - the woman she embraced around the waist now was easily over six feet tall; where Naru was lightly tan with shining blonde hair, the woman that bent over her small frame to wrap her arms around Naru in return had flowing locks of crimson that stood out in sharp contrast to her paler skin and strange, dark clothing. Shining blue eyes met sparkling gold, and where Naru was smiling brightly, the woman was frowning heavily.

"Naru-chan..." she sighed softly as she squatted down in front of her, cupping bruised cheeks in-between her hands. It was odd - _how funny_, she thought - to see the child's face nearly engulfed by her hands. "You're injured..." Now the young blonde's smile dwindled, eventually falling down into a pout as she shrugged back and away, her 'Kaa-san' slowly standing up and watching her. She crossed her arms and turned her face away from blazing golden eyes, searching for an answer she didn't really want to give. "Naru." Her voice was sharp and demanding; Naru flinched and ducked her head, twiddling her fingers nervously as she chanced a glance up at the woman. Her hands were planted firmly on her hips, one brow raised, lips pursed; it was an, _I'm waiting _sort of look_..._

"I..." Naru began in a small voice, squeaking out at the end. She blushed and cleared her throat, biting her lip as she glanced around. _Kaa-san would be angry..._

"Kodomo..." Naru winced at the tone, and had to take another moment to swallow that slight fear that bubbled up. That feat accomplished, she took a deep breath and bravely met sharp golden eyes.

"I got in a fight, Kaa-san," Her 'mother' blinked slowly, her hands dropping from her hips to swing limply by her sides as her mouth opened and closed. She was struggling to reprimand the girl, but the mere fact that such a sweet child could every do such a thing was... truly shocking! Naru was an angel; really, there was absolutely _no_ reason for this.

"Why would you DO that? Naru-chan, you're better than that!" she finally snapped into action, scolding the girl who only ducked her head lower, her cheeks burning with shame. She quickly glanced up, blue eyes blazing with determination to prove herself to her Kaa-san.

"It wasn't my fault! They threw rocks at me, Kaa-san, and-"

"Naru," she sighed, shaking her head slowly. "That's absolutely no reason to start a fight."

"THEY started it!" Naru insisted, stomping her foot angrily. The ground shook ominously, drawing the woman's eyes to the foot in question. Naru didn't even notice that she'd done anything, didn't even notice the cracks spider webbing from the area of impact, across the floor, stopping just a few feet from the wall. In all honesty, she didn't know where this place was, or even who this woman was; but she'd been here many times before, and the lady was _sooo_ nice to her. It could only be her Kaa-san, and this was her home, _their_ home. Here she was safe, and loved, and those other people couldn't touch her. Not here, never here. "They ALWAYS start it."

"You can just leav-"

"NO!" Naru yelled at the woman, her long, sharply pointed ears twitching slightly at the intense volume. "I WILL NOT! THEY ALWAYS THROW ROCKS AND THEY **DESERVED** IT!"

"Kanro," She kneeled down, her expression soft and eyes warm. Tears were overflowing from Naru's eyes, sluggishly sliding down Naru's bruised, slightly bloated cheeks.

"I-it isn't f-fair!" She hardly noticed when she was gathered into long arms and held against the woman's bosom. She burrowed her face into the soft, black fabric of the woman's jacket.

"I know, kanro, I know." Given a few, long minutes, intermixed with soothing words and the woman's hands running through her shoulder length blonde hair, Naru eventually managed to calm down, her sobs quieting and tears stopping. She sniffed, nuzzling the woman's chest, and sighing softly.

"I love you, Kaa-san," Naru admitted, blushing slightly. 'Love' was not a word she was accustomed to.

"You don't even know what love means," the woman murmured, her eyes glassy as she lightly pushed Naru from her. But she didn't stand up, seemed much more content to lower her bottom down on the gray stone of the floor and sit back, her hands splayed across the ground behind her to help her keep her balance. Naru flinched and looked down, her blush deeper as she tentatively began to play with a strand of hair.

"Yes I do," she muttered lowly, almost to herself. The woman heard her and frowned, light coming back to her eyes as she refocused on the world around her.

"How can you, kodomo?" Naru frowned now, her brows furrowing as she glanced up at her Kaa-san.

"How... can I...?"

"How can you know what love means? Have those vermin taught it to you with the rocks they throw?" The blow was a low one, but it was necessary. She needed to grow up, _now_. Despite that she was five, it was simply necessary for her to understand. She didn't want to though, and was more hurt by the comment than angered. She sniffled and took a step away from the golden eyed woman that she had thought to be her savior. This woman that had just thrown her pain back in her face. _That wasn't FAIR. _

"Kaa-san-"

"And I'm not your Kaa-san, either." Naru flinched back, sniffling again, her lips trembling as she took another shaky step away from the woman slowly standing to her feet. Her golden eyes were cold; it was unusual, and Naru didn't like it one bit. _That wasn't RIGHT._

"N-nee-sama..." Naru stuttered out, trying to swallow the ache radiating through her chest. _That shouldn't HURT._

"Naru!" The woman snapped finally, glaring at her. She froze up completely, eyes wide in terror. The woman's glare softened until it dropped completely, and she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose and shaking her head slowly. "Naru... I'm nothing to you-"

"Bu-but!"

"No buts! Naru, just... you cannot do this. You cannot continue to visit me," Her tone was flat, and sounded somehow very harsh to Naru's ears. _That wasn't GOOD._

"NO! I want to, please, I wo-won't call you anything you want, I-I'll be good, I won't get into fights an-"

"Naru, that isn't the point." The woman interrupted sharply, her glare significantly softer than it had been before. "You cannot visit me because you aren't..." The woman broke off to sigh and shake her head, trying to find a way to word this properly, so that she might make Naru see reason. "You won't understand, you're too young."

"I'm not STUPID!" Naru snarled, after taking a few long moments to consider that. "You don't have to lie to me. I get it; you think I'm _that_, right?"

"What, dear kodomo?" Naru glared at the woman, baring her teeth in some odd sort of almost-animalistic rage.

"_Don't_ call me that! I know what you really think, and you know what? I HATE you too!" Tears were streaming down her cheeks once again, but the woman didn't move to comfort her, and just stared at her with sad eyes. She didn't even bother to deny it. So, with only a single sob, Naru turned and fled the room, rubbing the tears from her eyes and paying no attention to the dark corridor she entered. She just wanted out, right then and there. She never wanted to see this woman again, _ever._ If she was such a _demon_, if she was so terribly hated, even by the woman she considered her Kaa-san, then she would just leave; leave and never come back.

"Goodbye kanro..." The woman sighed, sinking back to the ground, frowning harshly at the gray stone, as if that were to blame for her problems, as if that could take the sting from the words just thrown at her. As if it could reverse time and stop her from opening her big mouth. "Kaa-san's don't feel like that for their children. Nee-san's don't feel like that for their imōto..."

* * *

**Okay, translations:**

**Kanro - sweetness**

**kodomo - child**

**And if you honestly need me to translate kaa-san, nee-sama, or imōto... seriously? Just in case, though, mom, elder sister, and younger sister. Respectively. If you want to leave a review, that's up to you. But if you want to flame, go ahead and suck my girl balls. Damn straight I've got 'em!**


End file.
